Karlshamn has during the times become a town for merchants and trade. It's a beautiful town, famous for its wooden buildings and merchant houses.Karlshamn is called the small town with the big port and that is well justified.

The town Karlshamn derives its origin from the fishing village and the wharf of Bodekull. It was situated in a bay at the mouth of the river Mieån where it reaches the Baltic Sea. The Swedes had been interested in Bodekull for a long time past. They needed a naval port in the south of Sweden and the mouth of the river Mieån was the place they looked for.Karlshamn has during the times become a town for merchants and trade. Its a beautiful town famous for its wooden buildings and merchant houses.

Karlshamn is called the small town with the big port and that is well justified.On September 15th 1664 Bodekull was granted a town charter. By letter in 1666 the homesteads of Bodekull and Bodestorp were donated to the new town and the town got its name Karlshamn from Karl X Gustav.

The town has been subjected to war. In 1676 the Danes took the town and the fortifications at Kastellet, but it was recaptured the following year. In 1678 the Danes paid a visit once again. The Swedes managed, however, to drive away the enemy. In 1710 the town once again was taken by the Danes, but after the Swedes had paid a large ransom, the Danes left.In 1716 Karl XII's oriental creditors were accommodated there. They had followed the king to look after their interests. Apart from the 60 lenders there were about 90 Poles and Germans.The Napoleonic wars in the beginning of the 19th century led to a short golden period for the town, as the ports of the Continent were blocked for the English merchant navy. But with the help of the English navy, goods were smuggled to the European continent on a large scaleThe name of Karlshamn has been spread widely over the world and still is. Formerly, first of all for its Swedish punch, Carlshamns Flaggpunsch, but there was also another luxury that made the name known, namely snuff. The stone, the Blekinge granite, has also become known in most parts of the world.

The Karlshamn Baltic Festival take place in July (http://www.ostersjofestivalen.se).